Diplomatic Briefing: Qin
Societal Basics
The Qin are split into six houses, which are essentially a combination of caste, labor union, and political party. All houses are important socially and politically, providing a critical role in society, with no "useless" houses whose sole goals and services are unnecessary for societal well-being.
On a personal scale it is more or less unknown what the Qin actually look like, and we have seen little of their hobbies or other recreational means, although they seem to have some sorts of games, competitions, and other group-building activities. They grow their own pets, but with commerce to Qinshui, Earth octopuses have become a popular pet for Qin, and several companies have made a small fortune selling fishtanks, feed recipes, and other related products to the Qin.
The Six Houses
Listed below are the six houses using the common Aeon name for each house, the English translations (as provided by the Qin themselves), and their functions in Qin society. Lle-Ji was the house to make first contact with humans and is the primary source of Qin knowledge, while Lle-Llau is confirmed to be anti-human. Reasons for this are likely related to Aberrant attacks on Qinshui or possibly just long-standing xenophobia.
- Lle-Brib, the House of Speech: Journalism and Internal Affairs
- Lle-Llau, the House of Walls: Defense
- Lle-Ji, the House of Roads: Exploration
- Lle-Sosh, the House of Wheat: Resource Extraction
- Lle-Av, the House of Beasts: Bioengineering and Biotech
- Lle-Tha, the House of Servants: Miscellaneous Labor
Qinshui
Qinshui is a broadly terracompatible world inhabited by the Qin. Atmosphere is breathable without aid for indefinite periods, but biological life is not compatible with human genetics. Qinshui's temperatures tend to be cool (~10-20 C on average) and the climate is wet compared to Earth normal, with near-constant rains and everpresent fog. Qin bioengineering has adapted the world to their norms, and is universally apparent in their cities, which lack hard angles and flat surfaces and have the curved, organic look common to bioapps. Qinshui's entire ecosystem is fully integrated with their biotechnology, and many of their bioapps apparently have full life cycles and ecological niches. Most Qinshui life lacks endoskeletons, and many lack exoskeletons as well, using gas bags, hydrostatics, and other methods of propulsion, lift, and movement.
The City of Meetpoint
The city housing the human embassy has been named "Meetpoint" by the Qin and is the only city humans are allowed in with (limited) supervision, due to "safety reasons". Most of the time Qin guides control what human guests can or cannot see, and only Meetpoint is considered "fully safe". Meetpoint is a fairly large city, covering several hundred square kilometers, with the embassy on the coast, allowing for sports such as sailing or fishing. Like all other Qin cities, Meetpoint is entirely grown, and the buildings are capable of self-sustaining, enacting their own repairs and maintenance in all but the most serious cases of damage, in which case a member of Lle-Av must intervene.
Technology
Qin biotechnology is